


Molten Bones

by ladylangst



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Lance (Voltron) Angst, Langst, With Minimal Comfort
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-04
Updated: 2019-02-04
Packaged: 2019-10-22 07:41:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,260
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17658734
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ladylangst/pseuds/ladylangst
Summary: Lance takes a shot to his shoulder during a training session, but the team fails to realize he’s hurt. What will happen when Lance also tries to ignore his injury?





	Molten Bones

Across the room Keith is resting on the floor, Shiro at his side. The Black paladin had put a stop to practice the second Keith was hit, forcing everyone to wait while he assessed the situation. Or rather, while he assessed how his favorite paladin was doing.

  
It’s not like Lance minds too much. Not really anyways. The safety of everyone on the team is extremely important, and if he were in charge they probably would have stopped as well. It’s just that yesterday, when he was shot in the shoulder by a stray bot, Shiro didn’t stop to make sure he was okay. He had reprimanded Lance sharply for slacking off. But today, when Keith took a shot to the side, Shiro was full of parental concern. Exactly like a “space-dad”, as Pidge jokingly called him.

  
Lance isn’t happy to admit that he’s jealous, but he’d be lying if he said he wasn’t. He’s happy that Keith will be getting medical attention though. The burn on his own arm is looking pretty infected, with scarlet blisters trailing from his shoulder blade to the upper part of his arm, and he doesn’t want his friend to suffer the same fate.

  
He sighs and decides to take a seat while Keith is being poked and prodded. He strolls over to the small container of drinks and grabs a juice pouch. The armor on his back is damp with sweat from the exercises, and Lance sighs in relief as he sits on the cool floor. He sips at his juice slowly, making a face and trying to place the taste. It’s nothing like the drinks his Mama would make back home, but it’s decent. Kind of a mix between pomegranates and, hm, apples? No, Pears?

  
He startles out of his thoughts when Shiro calls out to him from his place by Keith.

  
“Lance, would you mind running down to the infirmary with Coran? He’s going to get some supplies and might need help carrying it back.” He looks worried, and Lance can’t help but feel a bit guilty about being jealous before.

  
“Yeah, of course! No Problem Shiro! As the superior paladin it’s only right that I help fix Kei-”

  
“Lance…” Shiro cuts him off with narrowed eyes.

  
“Haha, totally kidding. I’ll get right on it.” He braces himself on the wall to stand and shoots finger guns at Coran. “Lets go get some med supplies!”

  
The older man smiles and waits for Lance by the door, only letting it slide closed when the other had passed through. They set off down the brightly lit corridor at a brisk pace, causing Lance to breath heavily. Apparently practice took more out of him than he thought. Hopefully he’ll be back to normal tomorrow. He throws his arm around Coran’s shoulder and subtly slows their pace, desperately trying to keep in a shout of pain. Man that hurts! His shoulder feels like its melting! Why did he do that?

  
Coran, bless the man, doesn’t notice. He chatters excitedly to Lance about the weird alien cream thing that he’s going to use on Keith’s burn. It’s hard to focus on the man’s rapid-fire speech, but Lance gets the gist of it. And he so does not regret letting Shiro ignore his arm. Keith can test the suspicious alien medicine first. He’s 99% sure that he heard Coran mention stomach goo. Total no go.

  
The chatter stops when the reach the medical bay, and Lance leans lightly on the wall while Coran gathers the supplies. He wipes his brow and stands up straight when the Altean comes over with a couple cases. Lance grabs the larger one and leads the way back towards the training deck. His muscles throb with every step.

  
“Lance, how are you faring? That was a rather vigorous training session you all just went through. I might speak to Allura and Shiro about ending it after Keith is patched up. It wouldn’t be good if everyone is overworked...” Coran trails off, looking at Lance questioningly.

  
Lance shrugs and grins widely. “I’m great, though a break would be nice. I could use some chill time. Maybe kick back with some space lemonade. Hunk also perfected his milkshakes. They’re so freaking delicious.”

Coran turns a little green at the mention of milkshakes and Lance laughs. He still remembers the look on the man’s face when he found out where the milk comes from. That will be a fun story to tell his nieces and nephews when he gets home.

They walk the rest of the way back in silence, both lost in their thoughts. Lance thanks Coran when he holds the door open again, and rushes through to get the supplies to his team members.

Shiro is still kneeling beside Keith, talking quietly with the downed paladin. Lance sets the box down and immediately starts to get everything out for Coran. Keith is looking really out of it and it’s worrying. His armor has been removed and the wound on his side looks way worse than Lance’s. It covers almost all of his friend’s ribs and chest, bloody burns that stand out against the pale skin. Lance shudders and looks away.

He doesn’t take offense when he’s shoved out of the way by Coran, even if it does make his own wound feel worse. He stands shakily and makes his way over to Allura, who’s watching from the sidelines.

She shoots Lance a look as he approaches, but quickly returns to watching Coran work. Her body is tense and a deep frown mars her face.

“Hey Princess.” he greets. “Coran suggested that we let everyone leave early today because of all the stress. That way we won’t be too exhausted if we run into some Galra. Is that alright with you?”

Allura turns and regards his with a slightly aggravated expression. “Yes, yes that sounds fine. Would you please inform the other paladins? I’ll stay here until they’re done fixing up Keith.”

“Anything for you princess. HEY HUNK, PIDGE, WE’RE GOOD TO GO.” He yells across the room. Hunk jumps and Pidge smiles excitedly before dragging the yellow paladin from the room. They’re probably going to go work on some complicated tech-y thing.

Lance turns back to the princess, but she’s already out of it again. He sighs and walks slowly out of the room. As soon as the door shuts behind him he lets himself fall to the floor, pressing his head against the wall. Everything feels too hot in this suit. He can barely breathe.

His hands pull weakly at his armor and he grumbles quietly in frustration. This shouldn’t be so hard. He gives up after a couple of fruitless seconds and slumps fully onto the ground. Maybe if he waits here long enough he’ll become one with the castle. Then he’d be more appreciated.

His eyes flutter shut, and his breathing slows to a more reasonable pace. The floor is actually pretty comfortable. Cold and smooth. Lance smiles and allows his mind to go blank. Sleep is good.

He dozes longer than he means to, and he doesn’t wake up until someone stumbles over him, cursing loudly. Lance groans and pushes himself up with his good arm, squinting tiredly at a very stressed Shiro.

“Lance! What are you doing out here?! It’s not safe to lay in the middle of the hall. I just about crushes you!” He scolds angrily, waving his hands at Lance as he speaks.

The blue paladin blinks, dazed. “M’sorry Shiro. I fell asleep. I’ll move.” He says quietly. Then he tries to stand, but the world spins around him. He gasps and falls back to the floor. Shutting his eyes against the spinning world above him.

Shiro shouts and Lance can hear his footsteps pound the floor as he rushes over. “Lance! Lance are you okay?! What’s wrong, where are you hurt?” His hands hover over Lance, unsure where he should be focusing his attention.

Huh. That’s new. Shiro doesn’t usually fuss over him. It’s a bit disconcerting. “M’fine. Jus’ tired. Could you maybe help me ge’ back to my room? Please?”

Shiro sighs in relief and leans back on his heals. “Yes, of course. Coran and Allura were right to let you guys go early. If the Galra attacked right now we’d be unable to form Voltron.”

Oh. That makes more sense. Shiro isn’t worried about Lance, just about how the rest of team would suffer if Lance were down for the count. A bitter taste fills his mouth.

Shiro runs a hand through his hair and leans forward again to scoop Lance up. He jostles Lance’s wounds roughly, causing fire to shoot up and down the injured paladin’s arms. He whines deep in his throat and curls against Shiro as he carries him.

The black paladin doesn’t say anything, but lance can feel his gaze searing him almost as badly as his shoulder is. Fun. His stomach rolls as he’s carried down the halls, and he drifts in and out of awareness. Doors slide open, there are voices, someone is tugging and his armor, and finally darkness.

Lance sleeps for hours. He would have slept longer, but Hunk came to wake him for dinner. His friend gazed at him with a soft smile as he sits up slowly. He’s still in his suits, minus the armor part, but Hunk is in some comfy lounge clothes. Lance gazes at them longingly and Hunk laughs.

“You have time to change buddy. I’m going to head to the dining hall, why don’t you meet us down there?” He doesn’t wait for Lance’s reply before ambling out of the room.

Lance huffs our a breath and stands on wobbling legs. He braces himself against the wall to get to his bathroom, pausing to snatch up his own comfy clothes. The bright lights above the sink cause Lance to squint slightly. He’s sure his irritation is plain in his face.

He glares into the mirror and feels his heart crack. This is awful. His skin is terrible. How could he fall asleep without washing up first? This will take at least a week to fix. All of that moisturizer will be wasted!

With another quick glare at the mirror Lance pulls off his suit and turn his back to the mirror. He looks at his wound and almost throws up. The skin in now a violent red with deep rings of purple around each irritated blister. It’s shiny and smells like an infection. Which makes sense, but still, it’s really gross.

His clothes are now on the floor and Lance bends over quickly to get them. He throws in his shirt, even though it’s makes him wince, and rushes out to the room.

Maybe he should tell someone about this? It could be pretty bad... but, no. He won’t. Shiro already scolded him yesterday. And if it were really that bad he would have made Lance get medical attention too. Besides, the team already sees him as the weak link. This will only make it worse.

He shakes his head and continues quickly down the hall, ignoring the way his head spins. He shivers and shakes the whole way to the dining hall. It’s absolutely freezing. The castle should be warmer. Ugh.

He slinks into the dining room and smiles at everyone as they talk. No one seems to notice him, but that’s alright. He practically collapses on his chair across from Keith and lets his head fall onto his hands.

The red paladin is looking way better than before, and he’s wolfing down his food like it’s something from Earth. Lance sighs dreamily and lets his mind wander to earth foods. Pizza would be heavenly right now. He not even aware of the room quieting until someone pointedly clears their throat.

Lance looks up from the table and sees everyone staring at him. Coran and Shiro both have slightly concerned expressions on their faces. He’s not sure what he missed.

“Uh, wha’ was tha’?” He mumbles. Looking at Hunk in confusion.

Keith snorts and tosses a weird alien chip at his head. “Coran asked if you were feeling alright.”

Lance shoots him a glare and then smiles as well as he can at Coran. “Yeah, I’m ‘lright. Still just tired. Thanks for asking though.”

Coran doesn’t look convinced. He and Shiro exchange a look, but eventually turn back to their food. Everyone else follows suit and Lance sighs internally. That was close. He leans more heavily on his hand and messes with his food. He should probably eat something, but his stomach is all twisty right now.

The rest of the team finishes their food quickly, and Shiro stands to announce their plan for the day.

“Alright team, we haven’t received any new information on the Galra. We’re hidden in a fairly safe solar system for now, and we should use it to our advantage. Coran will be taking Hunk and Pidge out on a small mission to a nearby trading post. The castle still has some damage from our last fight and he thinks that there will be some parts we can use. You’ll leave as soon as you’re done eating. Lance, Keith, you’re with me today. We’ll be training with our lions on a planet a few minutes away. We’ll meet here in half an hour. Does everyone know what they’re doing? Okay good.” With that Shiro ends his speech, and Lance scowls down at his mushed up alien food.

Today is going to suck.

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! I hope you liked it! Lemme know what you think and what you’d like to see in the next chapter! Thanks for reading.


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